Topic Tuesday #103 2014/07/08 "Wearing Technology"

I have a confession to make. I *may* be addicted to technology. Hard to believe, I know. But the signs are clear. I have a technolust. Recently, one of my dream fictional technologies has been made a reality. Smart Watches. We are talking Dick Tracy and Batman technology here! Somehow these companies are using Timelord T.A.R.D.I.S. technology to make it all fit inside itty bitty little hunks of expensive glory. I swear this stuff is ridiculous, and we have become completely numb to how amazing it is. This is right in the wheelhouse of Arthur C. Clarke's statement that, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

The rundown of these new wearables start out with Google Glass. Google essentially managed a WiFi/bluetooth tethered android powered camera with a H.U.D. to display small blurbs of data in your peripheral vision. It has various sensors and a GPS radio as well for navigation functions. There are some natural problems with this technology. Primarily, the overt camera wherever you are looking is off-putting to those you encounter. Just seems people don't like cameras pointed at them. Users have garnered the less affectionate nickname: "Glass-holes". Sad really for the folks that forked over $1,500 to be in the Glass Explorer program. The technology, though not exactly revolutionary, was a breakthrough and a rich platform for iterative technology changes leading to the Android Wear codebase that is now integrated into Android Jelly Bean and older. 

Unveiled at Google IO 2014 were three examples of the new Android Wear watches. The Samsung Gear Live, the LG G Watch, and the Moto 360. Samsung has been in this space for a while competing with the likes of Pebble and other upstart start-ups (which I am excluding from this rundown and just sticking to Android). Their first, the Galaxy Gear, has a camera which is pretty cool but the whole thing is tied heavily into their Galaxy ecosystem, making it a non-starter for many who do not own a Galaxy Note 3 or a Galaxy S5. The Galaxy Gear Live, compared to it's predecessors is more for mass market appeal, but does not have a camera, which is a little disappointing in the Dick Tracy gadget department. Since you can use it with any Android device, it is still a huge improvement.

LG went with a utilitarian design for the G Watch. Not very elegant. Very boxy. It looks a lot like an iPod nano turned into a watch, before Apple changed the design.  Sadly they didn't build a great deal of utility into it. Unlike the Samsung, it does not have a heart rate monitor. With these devices, fitness is the obvious choice. They have accelerometers, compass, and gyros as part of the system to turn on the face when the watch is raised to a viewing angle, and this naturally works as a pedometer. Additionally the specs seem to all have a microphone, but there does not appear to be any sign of a speaker. You will need your phone with you anyway, as this is a companion device without an internet connection of it's own, so it doesn't really have to have sound.

Then we come to the last of the three, the Motorola Moto 360. Well... It's round! It looks like a watch. A typical watch. The reviews so far have indicated it is quick and feels lighter than some of those really fancy all metal designer watches.  It does have a physical button, though that may just make it look even more like something that should classically be on a wrist, I'm sure they have a plan for it. Given they have not released it yet, the rumors are strong that it will charge without wires thanks to QI (pronounced 'chee') wireless charging that we have seen in the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones. This could mean having to lug around the charging stand one trips away from home, which could be a bit of a bother. All of them seem to feature water resistance (no diving please) which will make for a carefree wearing experience through everyday life. 

These dandy pieces of wearable technology will cost between $199 and $250.  

By the way, my birthday is in November. wink wink nudge nudge.

They are't the VaultTec Pip-Boy 3000, but these will do quite nicely.